Not Just Stories

Chapter 5: Alex

Btw the boy with the brown hair in the middle is Alex.

I wake up wearily the next morning. For a moment I had forgotten where I was, then cold reality had hit me and I remembered.

"RYAN! GET OUT HERE!" Pan yells.

"What do you want?" I ask from the warmth of my blankets.

"Your working. I need you awake. Here..." He throws new clothes in the tent. "Change into these, and be out quick. I'm not one for waiting around." He says in a demanding tone.

Everything nice about him yesterday seemed to already be gone by the morning.

Last night we had just talked until I fell asleep. When I woke up he was gone. I started to think maybe wasn't as bad as I thought.

I changed out of my old clothes and into the new ones. They were a bit big on me and looked used.

I walked out of my tent, with the sun harshly greeting my eyes. The savory smell of bacon and eggs reminds me that I haven't had but one meal on this island. I start  to make my way to the desirable smell.

A hand grabbed my wrist and dragged me away. He looked at me.

"You will have to earn it to eat it," Pan says, placing a crossbow in my hand.
"Felix, get over here!" He yells, his accent really showing through. The tall blonde boy walks over to Pan, unaware of his new task.

I didn't know what he was doing. I didn't want to know. I wanted to eat.

"This won't take long. Do as you are told and you can go eat." Pan says as he dips an arrow in dreamshade.

"What am I doing?" I ask, slightly fearful of his answer.

"There's a story around here about a boy who shot an apple off his sons head. Let's see if it's possible." He tosses Felix an apple. He puts it on his head as Pan gets the boys to chant shoot

He wanted me to shoot. "But I can't! I just learned yesterday!" I tell him.

"You seemed skilled yesterday. Nothing has changed since then."

"What about the dreamshade?!"

"Motivation not to miss. Shoot. If you want to eat then shoot." He says, joining the chant.

I can go without eating, right? The smell found its way back to my nose, shaking the thought from my head.

I bring the crossbow slowly up to my eye, shakily. Then I realize this is it, this is my chance, possibly my only chance.
I breathe in and out, aim and shoot.

NO!

He caught it. Pan caught it. He stood there with the arrow in his hand and a satisfied smile on his face as defeat showed on mine.

He dropped the arrow and took the bow from me.

"Go get you some food." He says.

I awkwardly walk over to the food, wondering if he's mad. Will I pay for this?

Other boys look at me, whispering their thoughts to one another. One of them sits next to me. He has short ruffled brown hair and brown eyes. He seemed oddly familiar but I ignored it.

"You know he was testing you." He says.

"How? It seemed like he wanted me to kill that boy."

"He wanted to see what you would do. You can't kill him. Don't try again or he'll hurt you" he warned.